Day 914. Last night I went to bed much later than expected and planned, just before 1:30. Tammy joined us in bed in the middle of the night, and so did Emmy. They both fell asleep, and then my arm Emmy lay on fell asleep. It wasn't 7 am yet, when Sammy started crying. After a while Tammy woke up first, and then Emmy, and by 7:20 they were up. A few minutes later we all got up.
I made breakfast, and we all sat down to eat. Then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and we all went downstairs, where I read a Bible story to them. Then I left them there and walked upstairs to finish cleaning up and turn the computer on to get a few minutes of work in. The kids, especially Emmy, were impatient to come up and get going and kept calling upstairs for me to let them up. Just after 9 am they came upstairs and we dressed them. We could have left at 9:30, but Randy wasn't ready yet.
We took the subway to the end and then the tram for one stop and arrived at the big square in front of town hall, where they have set up a huge iceskating rink. Sonja was waiting for us at the entrance there. We had to scan a QR code to register, show our papers that we've recovered from Covid, and they let us in. We walked over to where you rent the iceskates and got three double-blade ones to put on the kids' shoes, and real ones for me. It was our second time there this year, that is mine and Emmy's and Tammy's. Last time I had not had skates myself. Randy and Sonja were there for the first time. We walked over to where the free iceskating rink for the little ones was. We all put the skates on, and then it was time to get on the ice.
It had been a few years since I was on the ice, so I was a little wobbly, but I appreciated having the animals the kids could hold on to to walk on the ice. And so I had them holding on to them, and me holding on too to walk with them, or they sat on them, and then I could push them really fast around the ice. The shoes were hurting so bad that I did not keep them on for long. I later exchanged them for bigger ones, which was better, and I pushed them around fast again. They did better in terms of sliding and not just walking on the ice this time. I also had Sammy, who was iceskating for the very first time today. The stiffness in his legs was an advantage in his ability to slide across the ice. I was holding his arms and sliding him.
After about an hour they were starting to get tired and cranky, and we decided it was time to get going. We took the skates back and walked around a little. There was anothe free, little icerink, though much smaller, that I had not seen yet. And Sonja had never seen any of this ever before, so she got to see a little how many paths of ice they had created. Then we headed to the tram stop. Tammy was excited to see two horse carriages and was crying, when we got on the tram and she could not see the horses any more. Then we got on the subway to ride home. Sonja left us half-way to go home herself. Tammy started crying, when she left.
We got home at 11:50. I put their food in the microwave and started undressing them all. At 12:10 we sat down for lunch, but none of them wanted to eat, and so they ate very little. Too many snacks on the way. Tammy had some pudding, Emmy went potty successfully, and then I cleaned them up and dressed them, and it was bedtime for the boys. Sammy was asleep right away, but Emmy was giving me a hard time. I was so very tired myself and just wanted him to sleep. By 1 pm he was asleep, and Tammy was already coming upstairs to go to bed. She was pretty tired and asleep by 1:15. I turned the computer on to work, even though I was very tired. By 2 pm I could not go on and closed my eyes and fell asleep.
I never saw Emmy walk in the room, but heard him with Randy at 2:20, when they were walking downstairs. Sammy was up too, and then Emmy woke up as well. I had no choice but to get up, gave Tammy the milk she asked, and took both her and Sammy downstairs. Then I got some snacks that I took downstairs as well, and finally my computer and tea to take to my desk downstairs, before they could even start calling for me.
They were pretty cranky all afternoon long. Randy put the carpet back on the ground since he'd had to return Sammy's try-out walker yesterday, and got some other stuff back out for Sammy to climb up on. I put worship from Life Center on my Echo screen, but the kids were so cranky that they wanted to watch Paw Patrol, but I said no. Randy got the big exercise ball out, and they immediately wanted to jump on it like they do in their exercise class. I held them to jump first, then Randy did, and then they cried some more, when we both stopped. Emmy wanted to swing, and so I put him into the swing. Then Sammy got to swing, and Emmy cried once again. After Randy had changed his diaper, I let Emmy jump on the ball again, then put him back into the swing, after Randy got Sammy. Tammy made some food in their play kitchen for her baby doll and fed her.
Yesterday I got a new toy for them, a little laptop, and they played with it a little bit. It's for 3 to 6-year-olds, to learn letters and numbers and some other stuff and might still be a little difficult for them.
I finally let them watch Paw Patrol and Peppa Pig, but when I turned it off, they were both crying. But it was time to tidy up the room. They just continued being upset, and I tidied up by myself. Emmy wanted me to hold him, and so did Tammy. They were pretty cranky/tired. I ended up carrying Tammy upstairs, where I set her down. They pulled the chairs up to the kitchen counter and started eating what I put on their plates in front of them, and they must have been hungry, as they ate better than usual, especially Emmy. Then we sat down at the table. Not one of the three wanted to eat their soup. And they didn't stay long before they got up. Tammy and Emmy went potty, and Emmy succeeded. Then they went into the bathtub, while I put the rest of their food onto a plate I took to them. Sammy ate all his food, and the other two most of it. They stayed in the water for a while, eating and playing, before they came out one after another. By 7 pm they were in bed, and I sat down by them. We talked, and Tammy lay on my chest for a few minutes before going to bed. Emmy wanted me to hold his hand to fall asleep, and he was asleep first. Tammy was nearly asleep by the time I left them, before 7:30 today.
I went to the kitchen and prepared my dinner, but without turning the stove on. Then I looked at the news about Mali and what's going on there. At 8 pm we had our bi-yearly board meeting on Zoom which lasted for an hour and was really encouraging. Then it was after 9 pm, and I turned the stove on and then ate my soup. After having eaten I continued working. Emmy woke up calling for me at one time and wanting milk, and then another time, but it's been quiet since.
